I Am Not Knitting ......

..... don't panic ! I have not given up knitting but just indulging in a little distraction ........ learning spindle spinning !

Angeline, a member of our Saturday's City Nits' session is a spinner & I have been watching her spin for the last few months & became interested. I was encouraged by Angeline & so invested in a spindle, which is handcrafted by Angeline's dad.

Then I had to go & buy some tops so that I can start spinning. June at BilbyYarns recommended this ....

..... 200gms of silver grey "Melanian" pure Australian wool & I also saw this & could not resist buying some .....

..... 10gms of 100% Australian merino in various shades of blues & lavender !

Then I started spinning with the help of Angeline & I had a little bit of my 1st hand spun .....

..... it was really interesting to watch as the little bits of wool twist & turn & became yarn. I was quite tense as I could not control the thickness of the yarn & the frequent breakages & my arms started to ache.

But I think I am slowly getting the hang of spinning & the results are much better. I am spinning a little every day & at this stage, I don't know if it will be as addicitive as knitting. I just want to spin enough yarn to knit a project !

Quick Little Projects

I just had to take a break from my 2 big projects (Mum's cardi & niece's bolero) & work on these 2 quick projects. It was a great for an instant feel of achievement as they were finished so quickly ! Took me just a weekend to do this ......

......a pair of infant socks that one of my knitting members requested. I decided to use my favorite toe-up pattern for these socks - magic cast on, a gusset, a slipped stitch heel & my favorite stitch patterm - mock mini cables. But I could not find any pattern on the internet that matches my requirements. Most of the toe-up patterns use short row shaping for the toes & heels & I don't like that. I wanted the socks to look like a pair of proper socks, so I had to work out the maths.

I am so glad that I took the time to do it as now I have a master template for socks of various sizes. I just love these socks .....

Yarn : Dream In Color Smooshy (leftovers)

Needles : 2.5 mm Harmony dpns

Size : Foot = 10cm Leg = 12 cm

Now for the 2nd quick project which was done in an hour (after spending a couple of hours deciding on the stitch pattern) ....

..... it's a sock for an iPod Nano which my daughter wanted for her friend's birthday. I love this stitch pattern as it looks like cables but it's not. The stitches are slipped & then dropped after 2 rounds & then picked up again - sounds complicated but it's not & I like the effect of the twist. Really pretty .....

Now I have to knit a couple more of these iPod socks as my daughter's other friends also want one - well, this is good practise for my socks design as I can play with different stitch patterns. Now that I mention socks, I am sorry that there are no pictures to share - I had finished a pair of long socks for a friend's new yarn but I can't show them until she is ready to put them up in her store. I am still working on the 1st design for the sock club & one sock is finished & I love it - I think it's my best design so far ......

I Just Can't Believe I Am Doing This !

I even have a button on my side bar that I am not a sweater knitter & now I have 2 garments on my needles ! I don't know why I am doing this except that I have to knit them as they are requests ...... a cotton cardigan for my Mum .....

.... which I am knitting top down & still doing the raglan increases until I have the right size for the arms - there are more than 300 stitches on my needles now ! I was so bored with this cardi that I cast on for my niece's bolero ......

....this is more interesting knitting as there's shaping on the fronts & there are also lesser stitches. I am knitting the bolero in 1 piece (the fronts & the back together). In fact, this is going so fast that I am already at the arm shaping. I think I should finish the bolero first as my mum's cardi will be taking me a while but she called a couple of days ago to ask if I have finish it - what do I do?

I will prefer to go back to socks knitting as they are more interesting & quick projects. I am still knitting socks but don't have any pictures to show as I am designing for Knitting Inspirations Sock Club. I have to come up with 4 designs & just started with the 1st design which will be due in June. This is quite exciting knitting up swatches of different stitch patterns & using the luxurious yarns - I will much prefer this than knitting cardigans. I should know by now that I am a full fledged sock knitter !